From 15 until 17 July the 5th International Nivea Cup was organised by the German Life Saving Federation (DLRG) in the city of Warnemünde.

This competition is by far the largest open water competition in Europe. Warnemünde is situated on the beautiful Ostsea coast of Germany.

15 countries competed as well as 32 German teams with a total of some 400 athletes.

Just weeks before the World Championship to be held in Viareggio – Italy, the Team from Wales beated the German National Team followed by the Spanish Team in third place.

In 12 of the 20 events the athletes from Wales made it to the top three.

The German athletes took 3 golden medals. The teams from the Netherlands, Spain and Italy each won 5 events.

For many teams the Nivea Cup was a good preparation for the World Championships next September.

In the female general ranking the German athlete Anke Wieland took the gold, just 2 points ahead of Monique Driessen (Netherlands) and Kirsty Edwards (Wales).

In the men’s category Thomas Garod and Thomas Nicholas (Wales) got first and second followed by the German competitor Lutz Heimann taking third place in the general ranking.

The most popular event, the Ironman final, was the last event of this 3 day competition. After a spectacular race the winner was Garod Thomas (Wales) beating Lutz Heimann (BRD) and Glenn Clatworthy (Wales).